WPP's Mindshare has been named cereal giant General Mills' new media agency. The agency's Chicago and New York office will oversee buying and planning for the snack food and cereal giant starting October 1. General Mills will spend US$823 million on advertising during fiscal 2015, down from us$866.4 million last year. The incumbent agency Publicis Groupe's Zenith Media had held the account since 2001. (Check out today's Interview with General Mills' Monica Granados on its relaunched Que Rica Vida content marketing initiative.)

Citi

Citi has consolidated its global media business with Publicis Groupe following a review that began in May.Publicis Groupe created One Citi Global to house creative, digital and production duties on the Citi account one year ago. One Citi Global will now hold all of the work Citi puts out, including the new media assignments.Media incumbents include WPP's MEC, which handles Citi media in the U.S. and international regions, and Publicis Groupe's Starcom MediaVest Group, which supports the client in a couple international markets through One Citi Global.Through separate media operations, Publicis Groupe now supports Visa (Starcom), Bank of America (Starcom) and Citi (One Citi Global).The financial services company spent US$332.5 million on domestic measured media in 2014, according to the Ad Age DataCenter.

Pepsi

Pepsi-Cola is releasing a new spot together with Omnicom’S BBDO, New York in the U.S..The new spot features Seattle Seahawks star Marshawn Lynch that plays off his notoriously evasive approach with the media. The ad was quietly posted on Pepsi's YouTube page last weekend and has since garnered more than 720,000 views.The brand would soon be running it on TV. She also confirmed that BBDO, New York is the agency. BBDO, New York has regularly produced work for PepsiCo-owned Mtn Dew and the company has a long-running relationship with Omnicom. BBDO has also been involved in global Pepsi work in recent years. But BBDO, New York has not made a TV ad for brand Pepsi for the U.S. since 2008.

Snickers

Snickers has launched a new packaging gimmick featured in a new ad.The Mars-owned candy bar’s personalized wrappers jibe with its “You’re not you when you’re hungry” campaign. The bars feature 20 words like Cranky, Grouchy, Snippy, Loopy, Sleepy, Rebellious and Whiny.In the ad, named “Dial-A-Snickers,” a call center operator takes phone calls from people requesting a Snickers for a hungry loved one. The operator seeks to diagnose which bar would be appropriate for that person, given his or her “symptoms.” A bike messenger then brings the designated Snickers to the needy party.Snickers has 20 versions of the new packaging.

PayNearMe, a financial services technology company, has partnered with 7-Eleven, Inc. to introduce the PayNearMe Bill Pay app, enabling U.S. consumers to pay over 17,000 national and local billers with cash using a convenient barcode scan at participating 7-Eleven stores. The domestic bill payment service is the first in a line of affordable financial services that the company plans to offer cash-preferring U.S. consumers and extends the reach of PayNearMe's existing cash merchant processing offering for businesses.The PayNearMe Bill Pay app serves as a full-service bill payment center, allowing cash users to keep track of payment history, set reminders, and securely pay their bills in under 60 seconds with one trip to their local 7-Eleven store. Most of 7-Eleven's nearly 8,000 U.S. stores are open 24/7, allowing users with even the tightest schedules to easily and conveniently stay on top of their bills.The wide range of billers that are payable include cable companies, utilities providers and insurance companies, as well as PayNearMe's existing merchants such as Greyhound bus, and Indego, the city of Philadelphia's bike share program. With money transmitter licenses already secured in all 48 states where they are required, PayNearMe expects to add national and regional retailers to its payment location network in the coming months. Other financial services are expected to follow.Both the PayNearMe Bill Pay and 7-Eleven Bill Pay Operated by PayNearMe apps are available to download for free in the Google Play store or iTunes App Store. Consumers can begin paying bills in three easy steps.

Editorial Staff (@portada_online)

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